sponsor of WWW.VSCCA.ORG (Posting of member ads is free**Please read 'fine print' on the Gullwingsearch page)
1939 Ford V8 Road/Race Special
Richard Furlong Who is a member of 36 years, of the Vintage Sports Car Club of Victoria.
26 McKendry Street
Castlemaine 3450
Victoria AUSTRALIA
Tel. 61 03 54723709
email: daytrap@hotmail.com
1939 Ford V8 Road/Race Special
Chassis / Engine No 9998700
1937 Ford V8 chassis, reversed, shortened and modified to accept parallel outrigged front springs and transverse rear springs.
Springs have been stiffened and set.
Wheelbase : 8'9" Track 4'6"
Axles: Rear standard 1937 Ford V8 housing (modified) . Front standard 1937 Ford V8. Torque tube modified 1937 Ford V8.
Single rail, side mounted sway bars at front and rear. (modified Ford).
Steering box ratios more direct, steering assembly rebuilt with new bearings, bushes, kingpins etc throughout.
Original Ford Mercury "banjo" steering wheel.
Shock absorbers. Tubular hydraulic heavy duty front and rear.
Hydraulic brakes, finned drums.
Transmission: 1939 Ford Mercury standard 3 speed gearbox, close ratio gears, heavy duty clutch,
Remote centre change gearshift. High ratio CWP.
Engine: 1939 Ford Mercury V 8 stock block fully ported, polished and balanced - dyno tuned.
Competition crankshaft, rods, high compression pistons, valves, mild race profiled camshaft, large capacity oil pumps,
Mallory electronic ignition . Offenhauser high compression heads, full purpose built extractor twin exhausts.
Twin Stromberg 97 carburettors and alloy gas flowed manifold. Electric fuel pump. Large capacity, foam filled
alloy fuel tank in tail (22 gallons).
Radiator: New large capacity core and new water pumps. Electric fan fitted.
Wheels: 1935 Ford V8 16" wire wheels, respoked, bolt on type with radial road tyres in excellent condition. Side mounted spare.
All electrics are new, converted to 12 volt, with quick detachable headlights, tailights and indicators (for competiton purposes).
Instruments include twin temperature gauges, oil pressure gauge, ammeter, revolution counter, speedometer , clock, switches and
controls. Battery box is mounted under passenger floor with isolating switch. Fire extinguisher under dashboard.
Coachwork.
The all aluminium 2 seat coachwork is built on a tubular steel frame and was constructed by the Elfin Racing Car Company of Adelaide South Australia C.1970.
Plans for the project were obtained by John Blanden, an automotive historian and journalist (author of "Australian Racing Specials" and other historical works),
from the USA. The car was designed as a road going version of the Indy "Junk" Formula pre war V 8. The wings are quick detachable (for competition work),
the front cycle type wings turn with the steering. The radiator grill is of prewar Ford origin, the headlights an after-market product.
Seats provide accommodation in comfort for two six foot plus adults and the aero screens provide adequate protection from wind buffeting.
Seats and cockpit are trimmed in high quality leather with carpets. The seat squabs lift out to reveal storage wells, the back squab tilts forward to provide access to limited storage space . Chromium plating is excellent and the Monza Red paintwork in very good order with some stone chips to the leading edges of the rear wings.
The tonneau cover is of high quality heavy duty material, and can be split or joined to provide effective weather protection.
A purpose built roll bar comes with the car.
History:
Three 1937 Ford V8 based competition cars were constructed by Elfin Cars Ltd from 1967-1972 for historic racing.
Elfin Cars have been building racing and high performance road cars in South Australia since the 1960s. Granton Harrison,
a prewar Australian racing driver commissioned car no.1, a replica of the Australian Grand Prix winning Ford V8 of 1950,
known as "Black Bess". He had acquired the remains of the original in 1967 after it had been used as a bush spotlighting
car for some rabbit shooters and had the ugly replica body made by Elfin.
The car is still campaigned in 2011 by Jim Russell in Australian historic events.
Cars No.2 and No3. Were built at the same time. The chassis and mechanicals were built by South Australian historic race engineer Jeff Gransden to
specifications provided by John Blanden. These two cars were constructed as "Indy" style road /race cars. Jeff Gransden used only stock standard Mercury V8
components for his car (No.2) but had an almost identical body constructed by Elfin to that on No.3 (my car). No 2 survives in Victoria.
Car No.3, my car, was built by Jeff Gransden for a wealthy customer, Mr Odgers, who insisted on a no expense spared approach.
The car was developed to a higher state of tune and incorporated the best available performance items, such as the Offenhauser Heads,
Twin Stromberg 90s and so on. The coachwork, similarly was finished to a luxurious standard for road rallying. The car was used for hillclimbs and
sprint events , and occasional road use in South Australia till 1976 when, after the owners death, it was placed in storage with less than 5000 miles on the clock.
In 2004 the car was found in Bowral , New South Wales in virtually as new condition. I purchased the car from Ian De Bouzeville of Liverpool
later that year. The car is still in excellent 'original' condition.
I have driven the car an additional 6500 miles . It is an incredibly strong, very quick road car with amazing torque and superb acceleration.
Top speed is in excess of 110mph and the standing quarter mile takes less than 16 seconds all in full road trim. Road holding is superb,
the ride is firm but comfortable and the brakes more than adequate. In VSCC and Historic Prewar Racing , whether long distance road events,
circuit racing or hillclimbing there are few cars pre 1960 which can compete with this car. It is a superb "all round" car, totally reliable,
and surprisingly economical.
The price : AUD $130,000. I wish it was a four seater (for the grandsons) I will consider a 1920s sports tourer in trade
Gullwingsearch.com Home
VSCCA.org Home